Synopsis
Ten years after ratting on his old mobster friends in exchange for personal immunity, two hit men drive a hardened criminal to Paris for his execution. However, while on the way, whatever can go wrong, does go wrong.
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Cast
- John HurtBraddock
- Terence StampWillie Parker
- Tim RothMyron
- Laura del SolMaggie
- Bill HunterHarry
- Fernando ReyPoliceman
- Jim BroadbentBarrister
- Lennie PetersMr. Corrigan
- Bernie SearleHopwood
- Brian RoyalFellows
Recommendations
- 91
The A.V. Club
The script by Peter Prince occasionally errs too much on the side of opacity, but the few revelations that do come are deftly handled. It’s a meditation on death, and in the end, it belongs to Hurt. - 90
Los Angeles Times
The Hit is something special: thoughtful, perfectly performed and carrying the clear stamp of an extremely interesting director. - 90
Variety
Frears and writer Peter Prince have taken a potentially familiar tale of a gangland betrayal and revenge and made something richly inventive and most entertaining. - 90
Washington Post
A dexterously balanced killer thriller by the idiosyncratic Frears, whose every scene becomes a matter of life and death. - 88
Miami Herald
Frears displays a complete mastery of the mechanics of a thriller, such that his movie is terrifying even when it pauses for breath. [08 Feb 1985, p.D8] - 75
TV Guide Magazine
An offbeat, existential crime drama buoyed by fine performances; nicely turned dialogue; and an evocative soundtrack and theme song from Paco di Lucia and Eric Clapton, respectively. - 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Eventually, the film, shot on location in Spain by a director with an innate understanding of how to stylize without becoming self-conscious, asks to be seen as a comic but moving meditation on the ways we do, or do not, go gently into that good night. [05 Apr 1985] - 70
Time Out
Hurt is in good vicious form as the shaded hit man; Stamp once more wears a smile like a halo; and the prospect of approaching death is handled without too much metaphysical puffing and blowing. All in all, a very palpable hit.
